This invention relates generally to a method of continuously forming roll bales of crop material in a roll baler while moving across a field without stopping to discharge such bales from the roll baler.
A method of this general type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,947 granted Sept. 6, 1977, to Aquila D. Mast and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The roll baler disclosed in this patent includes a lower bale forming apron and a pair of upper bale forming aprons. The upper bale forming aprons cooperate with the lower bale forming apron to define front and rear bale forming chambers. When a bale started in the front chamber reaches a predetermined size, it is transferred to the rear chamber where it is completed. While the completed roll bale is being wrapped with twine and discharged from the rear chamber, another bale is started in the front chamber. This provides for continuous baling operation. A drawback of the method of bale formation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,947 is that roll bales tend to fall apart during transfer from the front chamber to the rear chamber.
The present invention provides a method of forming roll bales in a roll baler having upper and lower bale forming means cooperating to define a bale starting zone. The upper bale forming means extends around an indexing guide member which is located in a home position for disposing the upper bale forming means proximate to the lower bale forming means at the rear of the bale starting zone. According to the method of the present invention, the indexing guide member is held in its home position while a first roll bale is started in the bale starting zone. When the first roll bale reaches a predetermined diameter, the indexing guide member is moved in a substantially circular path of travel generally about the periphery of the first roll bale. The indexing guide member is returned to its home position after one full revolution around the circular path of travel. The indexing guide member is then held in its home position while the first roll bale is discharged from the roll baler and a second roll bale is simultaneously started in the bale starting zone.